Place: Reviews & Ratings

Stopped here while in Maine visiting family. My wife loves to grocery shop here, which affords me plenty of time to peruse the beer section. Very decent selection of Maine brews, as well as domestic craft/micro, and a healthy selection of imports. Tons of 6 and 12 packs, as well as singles, the option to mix and match, magnum/oversize import bottles, and bombers. The set-up is very easy to navigate, as the beer occupies the two cooler spaces over by the deli/fish area. Also some stand alone displays around the cooler. I was hanging around for a while shopping and no employees approached the area, so I didn't really get a great vibe as far as the service, although the employees I did interact with throughout the store seemed nice enough. Worth a stop if you are in the Portland area and need to pick up some beers, as well as other staple items for the home. (867 characters)

Whole Foods Portland is a great supermarket, and is even better in terms of beer selection. I cannot say I shop here often for groceries given that it's slightly pricey, but I do come here not infrequently for beer.

They have a great selection of local and regional beers, as well as a good selection of imports and Belgians. Often if you can't find a rare beer at your bottle shop they'll still have a couple at Whole Foods.

Price is maybe slightly above average on beers, but not terrible.

The main complaint I have is that they charge you about 40 cents more per bottle if you want to mix a six-pack. I don't really think it's worth an extra couple dollars to do this, but I understand that the next super-market goer isn't necessarily going to want a mixed 6er like I do.

In conclusion: their individual bottle selection is great though slightly above average price-wise. They have a great selection of 12 oz bottles as well, but you can't mix a six pack without paying a 25% surcharge. (996 characters)

Whole Foods has a very nice beer selection for a supermarket, albeit an upscale one. Beers I want to drink are there, and beer prices are quite reasonable.They also have a good selection of vegan food, which helps me out considerably. The downside of the food is the expense.My wife and I stop here when we go back and forth between York and Brunswick, and can always find beer and provisions that we need (or want).The staff is always attentive and helpful. The beer people seem to know what they are doing. Whole Foods is a lively place. (543 characters)

October 29 and the snow storm is about to hit Portland, Maine. WTF!? So we’re getting the hell out of there and driving back to our hotel in York Beach… but first a quick stop at Whole Foods (right by 95) to get some wine and cheese.

We were one block from Downeast on the Old Port before after eating a lobster roll at Portland Lobster Co. on the last day of the season, but it was snowing nasty and I decided to turn around. Whole Foods sure was a fine alternative for my beer shopping!

This store has got a massive amount of wine (along with a friendly wine expert) and a very good selection of beer. Damn, do I wish I could buy wine at my local Whole Foods in NYC!

The beer is near the main entrance, just past the produce and right next to the wine. Everything is refrigerated. Basically a long cooler with six packs and bombers. Lots of locals: Peak, Baxter, Allagash, Shipyard, Smutty, Cisco… plus Dogfish (Olde, Palo, 90, Midas), North Coast (Brother, Raspy), Victory (Hop Wallop, Storm King).

As far as quality goes, this is unmatched in the area for grocery stores. They constantly have good stuff there. The quality of the brews is pretty top notch other than a few "craft" beers ie. Stella, Guinness, etc.

Service has always been good for me. I've not had many questions, so I can't speak to the knowledge of the employees, but I'm always asked whether I need help.

The selection is always good for a grocery store. Best in the area for a non-specialized liquor store.

With the early opening hours (8AM), this was the only bottle shop I made it to during my brief visit to Portland. As someone from out of state (and country), I was very impressed with their selection for a "mere" grocery store. Clearly, there are some beer-passionate people working at the store. They had a great selection of the local beers (Allagash, Sea Dog, Bar Harbour, Sebago, etc), as well as Vermont, New Hampshire and other East-Atlantic states. And the prices were very reasonable.I'm sure if I were a local looking for rare Belgians I would hit up one of the other bottle shops, but for local beers, this place is great. (633 characters)

My only stop for some beer to-go while in Portland. Good selection of brews available with lots of local craft beer being the main focus. They had Sebago, Gritty's, Allagash, Maine Beer Co., and others. Prices were reasonable and the guy restocking the cooler was anxious to help. They had a few other craft/micro beer available as well as some good Belgian beers. Everything appeared to have good turnover, which could be a problem in some grocery stores but rarely an issue at Whole Foods. Just about everything was in the cooler. They had a small display with some crates of the locals that was warm, but that was about it. Good place for a quick stop to grab some beer and snacks or even stuff for a meal all at once. (721 characters)

Stopped in on 7/1/09. The beer selection is pretty nice, with a ton of local brews being featured. You can tell that they take pride in "buying local" here, because each beer from the region had a label telling shoppers. I wound up purchasing 2 bombers of Cadillac Mountain Stout and a bottle of Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. Both were reasonably priced at $4.99 and $9.99, respectively. The only negative that I can think of was that most of the beers were kept in the refrigerated case. My preference is to buy bombers at room temperature. If they had an entire warm aisle dedicated to beer, this place would be a must-stop. (627 characters)

Stopped in here very quickly to find...hell, I forget...and was greeted by a very nice beer selection. Not the hugest in the world but a nice mix of local and national/international stuff. Can't pass up a 750 of St. Bernie 12 for $8.99. Also, the new bottles of Cadillac Mountain Stout (post-Atlantic acquisition) were there for $4.99. Service was unobtrusive; cashier was a homebrewer so he saw my Allagash selection and started talking about the craft. Not a lot of crap in their selection by any means. Quick one-stop shop for good stuff when in that area. (559 characters)

Surprisingly large selection for a place that is considered a grocery store.

Great selection of Maine products, even stuff I hadn't seen at some other nearby stores (such as Freeport Brewery growlers).

The only place I've seen (so far) that has Dieu du Ciel beers other than just Peche Mortel.

The beer selections are split into two groups, the 6-pack and 12-pack sections near the wine and the larger bottle section (such as Belgians and specialties) near the cheese, so make sure you search for both areas as you're bound to miss a large portion of their selection otherwise. (580 characters)

Most people probably wouldn't go into a grocery store looking for hard to come-by beers, but Whole Foods in Portland, ME is not your typical grocery store. They have an excellent selection of regional craft and imports. You can find almost anything from locally-brewed peak organic beers to Belgian Trappist Ales (Rochefort at times, Westmalle, Orval, etc). The locals are typically in 6-packs, with the exception of the corked Allagash beers, and the imports range from 11oz bottles to the typical corked bottles.

All-in-all, they have a surprisingly good selection and I never hesitate to pick up a few bottles of something different every time I'm up there. (662 characters)